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David Robertson
takes the baton of the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra.
By William Poe
Things were looking down in New York.
The St. Louis Symphony Orchestra (SLSO) had just lost its famed
conductor, Hans Vonk, to a sudden illness. And in only six days–Feb.
8, 2002, to be exact– the Symphony was scheduled to give a major
tour performance at Carnegie Hall.
That’s when David Robertson heard his phone ring.
“It was during the period I was actually moving my base of operations
from Europe back to the States, so I had looked forward to having
this week-and-a-half to learn all sorts of scores,” Robertson recalled.
“So I thought, ‘This is good. This is a week-and-a-half of utter
calm with nothing to do.’”
But after arriving in New York, the young conductor found that his
mini-vacation was over before it started. Under ordinary circumstances,
Robertson said he would’ve declined the invitation to take Vonk’s
place for the night. For starters, he had only spent five days with
the SLSO—three performances and two rehearsals—and that had been
in 1999, three years earlier. This was not a group he knew
very well.
Furthermore, the program would have to be altered at the last minute.
“And we would have to change it to works that neither the orchestra
nor I had played recently,” Robertson said. “All of that being the
case, I thought, ‘Yeah but this is these people, and this is Hans,
and they’re in trouble.’ So I said, ‘Yes.’”
David Robertson conducts the SLSO on Feb 8, 2002 in
New York at Carnegie Hall. |
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There was time for only one three-hour rehearsal on the Friday of
the concert. And although that would normally be woefully inadequate,
Robertson said something amazing happened: “In coming back it seemed
like it had maybe been a couple of months since I had seen them.”
During the concert itself, Robertson said the nervousness wore off
almost immediately. “There was this type of communication,” he said.
“It felt like we’d been doing this so often that it was practically
a routine that everybody understood.”
Afterwards, Robertson described the performance as “really extraordinary,”
and it has since become a bit of a legend in the American music
world. In its review the following Monday, The New York Times gushed,
“This gifted and technically assured American conductor achieved
brilliant results.” It was also then that Robertson said to himself,
“I’m going to watch this orchestra very carefully and see what happens.”
What has happened—almost as if by fate—is that Robertson will soon
be calling the SLSO his home orchestra. In December, the SLSO made
the stunning announcement that Robertson, 45, would soon be its
new music director.
One of his main goals, he said last month, is to make everybody
in St. Louis a fan. “I want everyone in the community to realize
that this orchestra is for them,” Robertson said. “The orchestra
can be a constant living metaphor of just what excellence people
can achieve when they work together.”
Undoubtedly, music fans are expecting great things from Robertson;
indeed, many can’t believe his recruitment is real. After all, Robertson
is acknowledged as one of the leading conductors of his generation,
and the applause generated when the SLSO landed Robertson still
reverberates throughout the classical music world. Robertson will
officially take the reins in 2005, after Vonk’s failing health prompted
him to step down.
“David is not only a great conductor with an international reputation
for music excellence, but...I can’t imagine finding a better fit
for our orchestra,” said Randy Adams, orchestra president and executive
director.
Virginia Weldon, chairman of the orchestra’s board of trustees,
led the 13-member search committee that recruited Robertson. “I
cannot begin to convey to you the enthusiasm we have for this man,”
Weldon said. “When we made the announcement to the orchestra, the
cheers that erupted brought tears to all of our eyes—including Robertson’s.
The musicians were absolutely thrilled. We are very, very lucky.”
While the buzz in national and international music circles is that
St. Louis is lucky indeed to snatch Robertson (he had earlier been
rumored to be going to New York, or heaven forbid, Chicago), the
new maestro said St. Louis may be underestimating itself.
“Not everyone in St. Louis knows just how good the Saint Louis Symphony
Orchestra is,” declared Robertson. “It truly is world class.”
And it probably didn’t hurt that Robertson and his wife, pianist
Orli Shaham, met here in January 1999, when both were making their
debuts with the SLSO—he as guest conductor; she as concert pianist.
“St. Louis is the most romantic spot on the planet for us,” said
the amiable and down-to-earth Robertson, who becomes only the second
American-born conductor in the orchestra’s venerable 124-year history.
Initially, Robertson said it was the high quality of the orchestra
that attracted him to St. Louis. “My principal relationship, of
course, has to be with the orchestra,” he said. “It has to be special.”
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In December, the SLSO made the stunning announcement
that Robertson would soon be its new music director. |
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As chairman of the search committee, Weldon attended rehearsals
whenever Robertson guest conducted the SLSO, hoping to understand
the relationship between the musicians and the conductor. “You find
out how they’re going to treat each other,” she said. “What I saw
was mutual respect.”
But Robertson said he was looking for more than just a great team
of players: “There are orchestras I love to conduct all over the
world, but not many for which I want to be music director.”
So what sold him on St. Louis?
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Powell Symphony Hall, home of the St. Louis Symphony
Orchestra. |
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“I knew that Powell Hall was one of the finest music halls in the
U.S., but we didn’t really know the town,” recalled Robertson. “So
we came down to really get to know the community. The warmth and
generosity of the people were things that really impressed us very
strongly.”
Robertson said during the three-day visit he and Orli made to St.
Louis last April he was impressed by the transformation in Grand
Center, where Powell Hall stands. “An unbelievably positive sign
was seeing the revitalization of Grand Center in the four years
since I first saw it in 1999,” said Robertson. “It’s the kind of
thing you see, and say, ‘I want to get on board and be part of it.’”
Robertson acknowledged that he also had to take the temperature
of the St. Louis civic community and its leadership. “In my position,
you have to know who your civic partners are going to be,” he said.
“I found that people in St. Louis are very proud of their institutions
and really love their symphony.”
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(Left to right): David Robertson, Virginia Weldon,
chairman of SLSO's board of trustees and Randy Adams,
SLSO's president and executive director. |
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He also was struck by the scope of the community outreach programs
that have become such an integral part of the orchestra’s relationship
with St. Louis.
“The orchestra has put on more than 300 free performance events
at schools, churches and even nursing homes,” said Robertson. “What
the Symphony does in the community is a recognized model for orchestras
everywhere. I spent several years in Lyon trying to get that orchestra
to the level where St. Louis is right now.”
That would be Lyon, France, which happens to be St. Louis’
“sister city,” where Robertson this year is completing a four-year
run as music director of the Orchestre National de Lyon. Robertson
assumes the SLSO’s baton next year, while serving as a consultant
and contributor this season.
Robertson has also been music director of the Ensemble Intercontemporain
in Paris, resident conductor of the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra,
and served as guest conductor for many of the world’s greatest orchestras.
He was named Musical America’s Conductor of the Year in 1999.
Robertson, a native of Santa Monica, Calif., was born into a musical
family and, as a young boy, took up piano, trumpet and the French
horn. He soon was playing first horn in a district-wide elementary
school orchestra and, in the seventh grade, jumped at the chance
to conduct a rehearsal. Before long, he was conducting concerts.
At age 18 his formal music education took him to London’s Royal
Academy of Music, where he primarily studied composition and conducting.
His first major appointment came in 1985 when he took the baton
of the Jerusalem Symphony at the ripe old age of 28.
Robertson said he now works in front of an orchestra about 36 weeks
a year (down from 45 to 48 weeks a few years ago) and finds it difficult
to indulge in his outside interests, which include bicycling and
photography. “It’s hard to have hobbies when you are traveling so
much,” said Robertson, who picked up fluency in several languages
along the way.
He does find time for his two sons from a previous marriage. Johnny,
12, and Peter, 14, are both musically inclined, though not necessarily
in the classical mold, and Robertson is now involved in a year-long
project with Johnny to build a scale model ship.
Warming up to St. Louis’s sports culture, Robertson said he is a
Rams fan, having grown up with them when they were the Los Angeles
Rams. “The Rams are my football team,” said Robertson, whose relaxed
manner reaches far beyond the tux-and-tails crowd. “That they are
now in St. Louis is an added bonus.”
Robertson and Orli attended a Cardinals baseball game last April
when the couple was touring St. Louis. He said Orli, a native of
Jerusalem, but a New Yorker since age seven, “is a compete baseball
nut. I like baseball but she can give you complete baseball stats.”
The Rams and Cardinals? It sounds as if the Robertsons will fit
right in. To get an early taste of what’s coming, fans can see Robertson
conduct at Powell Hall on April 21 during a special RCGA Business
After Hours.
The Cards are on the road.
William V. Poe is principal of Poe Communications, a St. Louis
advertising and marketing communications firm.
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